Friday, November 9, 2012

Weekender: This Weekend's Top Five Events

Fri, Nov 9, 2012 at 6:00 AM

How many times did you cry before/on/after election night? Whether you've shed tears of joy or dejection, put the crying behind you because it's all over! To make things even better, it's the weekend, and here are the best things you can do with yourself this gloriously unpolitical Friday through Sunday:

California Contributions: 50 Years of Studio GlassAccording to the folks at industrial-art studio The Crucible, glass is a "hot, glossy, temperamental, and very sexy" art medium. But that hasn't always been the case; in fact, through the 1950s, it was viewed almost exclusively as an industrial material. The "Studio Glass" movement that opened the floodgates to glasswork as an art form began in 1962, and The Crucible will celebrate its fifty-year anniversary with a two-day glass-art festival on Saturday and Sunday, Nov. 11-12. Visitors can catch glass-blowing, casting, neon, and flame-working demonstrations from some of The Crucible's glass faculty, participate in workshops, view more than eighty pieces of glass art, and purchase gifts. 10 a.m.-6 p.m., $15 per day. 510-444-0919 or CaliforniaStudioGlass.org — Azeen Ghorayshi

THREADSAs if artist and event organizer Sarah Sexton (aka Ssquar’d) of local production company Oaktown Indie Mayhem didn’t have her hands full with projects already, from the annual 48-Hour Film Festival to the monthly X-Over Music Series at Actual Cafe, she’s now hosting a monthly clothing swap. Held in the yard at Classic Cars West on every first Saturday of the month, THREADS affords ladies and gents alike an opportunity to trade in their tired garments for duds discarded by others. Aside from garment bartering, each event also features live music, local craft beer, and Rosamunde sausages for sale. And remember: Just as one man’s trash is another’s treasure, one woman’s worn-out cardigan is another’s flashy new sweater. 2-6 p.m., free. 510-302-5423 or OaktownIndieMayhem.com

JapandroidsJapandroids are the guitar-and-drum duo du jour, a The Black Keys devoid of blues and driven instead by punk and DIY aesthetics. Its latest album, Celebration Rock, a likely pick for many critics' year-end lists, has the Vancouver boys borrowing from early Bruce Springsteen to make anthemic rock that, like The Black Keys, has earned them crossover appeal from hipsters to cool dads. Japandroids put on a loud and raucous live show, drawing comparisons to The Replacements, with each member screeching husky vocals while banging out an incredibly full sound from just guitar and drums. They'll stop by The Fillmore on Monday, Nov. 12. Sister garage-rock duo Bleached will inject the set with much needed estrogen. 8 p.m., $20. TheFillmore.com — Whitney Phaneuf

Woody Guthrie's American SongHow better to celebrate the life of Woody Guthrie than through his own music? UC Berkeley Theater Department chair Peter Glazer first premiered Woody Guthrie's American Song, his acclaimed musical telling Guthrie's life story, in 1989 — but the show returns to Cal, for a two-week run beginning on Friday, Nov. 9 . Featuring the music and writings of the Oklahoma-born folk hero, the story follows Guthrie on his two-decade journey through America, witnessing the Great Depression, the Dust Bowl, and World War II. Through November 18.Thu.-Sat. 8 p.m., Sun. 2 p.m.; $15 general admission, $10 for UCB students. 510-642-8827 or TDPS.Berkeley.edu — A.G.